Silversea Shadow Collides with Container Ship – Updates

4:45pm UPDATE: Check out these new photos from Andrew Lock, who was a passenger on board the Silver Shadow…

3:20pm UPDATE: The Silversea Shadow is docked in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. The line reports that the Shadow only sustained minor damage. Silversea has now opened a full investigation into the accident.

-Andrew Lock

12:00PM UPDATE: Silversea has released an official statement regarding the previously reported crash of the Silver Shadow with a local cargo ship in Vietnam:

“Silver Shadow was involved in a minor incident on March 16, 2012 at around 4:20 GMT as it was approaching the pilot station in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. There was contact between Silver Shadow and a local commercial vessel.

“Silver Shadow incurred limited minor dents and guests’ safety was never compromised. The ship was fully operational and continued on its course to Ha Long Bay where all shore tours operated normally. Silversea will carry out a full investigation into the incident.”

This statement contrasts with the passenger account of the situation, in that it only mentions dents to the ship, rather than a hole. It also doesn’t address the damage to the commercial vessel, which the passenger described as “severely damaged” with “crew hurt”. We will stay on top of this breaking story, as always and report any further developments.

————

7:00 am: We have just received word that the luxury cruise ship Silversea Shadow has collided with a container ship in Vietnam. The following is a transcript from a passenger on board the cruise ship, sent from his cell phone.

Silversea Cruises SILVER SHADOW (Photo credit: steamboatsorg)

We’re on Silversea silver shadow cruise ship and we just collided with a Vietnamese container ship near Halong bay, Vietnam. We slammed into the side of it, in thick fog

The other ship was severely damaged, and crew hurt, damage to our ship is being assessed in hong kong. Passengers were called to muster stations.

Our ship has a hole in the bow, it was struck in two places – their bridge, and we ripped a large tear in the side too.

I have more pics of the damage, sending this from my cellphone.

Many Brits and U.S. on board

Cruiseline is down playing incident but its serious.

– Andrew lock

I will do my best to update this story as it develops today.

Header image: myitchytravelfeet.wordpress.com

Comments

Mike Faust is an avid world traveler, often found traversing city streets in Asia and Europe rather than his home city of Boca Raton. Mike has touched down in 39 countries, set sail on 35 cruises, and flown over 400,000 lifetime miles.